C.S. Lewis said, “Sadly, many of us are so tethered to this world and the things it offers that we scarcely take thought of the world to come. Yet it is precisely by reflecting often on the joys, beauties, and satisfactions of eternal life in the world to come that we find a hope that empowers us to live fully for Christ today.”

How desperate are you for hope right now? Does it seem you are far from any good solution to your problems? Mayber there is more month than money? Have you experienced betrayal or love lost? Does a loved one’s choices weigh you down?

Whatever your condition, if you are a follower of Jesus, the hope you have in Him (a hope not based on circumstances) is available to you. But whether you accept His hope is up to you. You do have options. You do not have to cling to the One who saved your soul. You can try to handle the difficulties on your own. Another option is to open the door to the enemy who fills your head with lies.

If you need hope, keep reading to the end and pray for the Lord to help you know His hope.

God created you to find hope in Him. But your relationship with Him is like addiction recovery. The addiction is sin. It displays in your thoughts, actions, habits, relationships, and more. When you accepted Jesus into your heart, you signed up for faithfulness and allegiance to Him. A rough and rocky road it is at times. Once you fall a time or two, hopefully you learn practices that deepen your fellowship with Jesus (many ideas are here on the website). You learn to find hope in Him.

If you choose to coast, become lazy, or worse, entertain hopelessness, then the relationship suffers, and you drift. Christianity offers protection from ourselves and against the enemy of our souls, but there is a cost. DAILY spiritual growth is the cost (Acts 2:46, John 15, Psalm 5:3, Mark 1:35, Lamentations 3:22-23). But you’re jaded, lonely, hurt, and wondering how to get back what you once had with the Lord. Like the quote from C.S. Lewis, you are tethered to the world. You don’t even think about heaven and the hope of our eternal home. Everything you think is in the here and now, and although you need solutions, nothing is working. Here are a few tips to get your hope back and dust off your disappointment and wrong thinking. Jesus is always right. We’re the ones who have to get back to Him and agree.

How to Put Your Hope in the Lord, AGAIN:

Seek Him in prayer – Don’t let the distance you’ve created keep you from crying out to Him like you used to do. Hold up your end of the communication.

Open Your Bible – His communication is mainly through His Word. Read it. Listen to it. Pray it. Write it. Record your voice reading it. Draw it. Study it. Once that connection happens, then you will know His voice (John 10:27).

Get back to Church – When you lose contact (with those hypocrites that you believe fill your church), you are missing contact with mostly faithful, godly folk who would be there for you in a variety of ways. If you are out of church, text a friend who was beginning to get to know you before you left church. You will make their heart glad, and they’ll save you a seat next week.

Think about Heaven – We can store up treasure there now(Matthew 6:19-21) by living a life of love and worship to the Lord. Philippians 3:20-21 tells every Christian that our citizenship is in heaven. One day we will know in a way we can’t know now, but we can still have hope. And everything here is temporary, so don’t lose your perspective(2 Corinthians 4:18) because we have eternal life in Him.

What Happens When You Begin These Practices?

• You will discern who your real friends are and you will choose wisely.

• You will grow more tender toward the Lord and what He loves.

• You will quit making terrible decisions and desire wisdom from the Lord.

• Your faith in God will grow rather than listening to the enemy’s lies.

• You will place the Lord back on the throne of your life.

• You will lose the judgmental spirit you have toward your local body of Christ.

• You will begin to see God’s plan for your life again.

The pain of life can have a good outcome if you focus on the eternal hope you have in Christ, and look to your eternal home when you are depressed. Let’s go over what the Bible says. The truth may set you free from your angst, anxiety, anger, and hopelessness.

The Bible speaks of 2 kinds of hope:

• Eternal Hope – Eternal means it lasts! The power and strength of this hope will lead you through even the largest of circumstances. Your relationship with God through Jesus, His Son, has the power to keep you until one day when you are with Him in eternal glory. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
• Living Hope – It’s living because Jesus lives, and He lives inside you. Because of the resurrection, Jesus is your living Savior, your living Hope. One day, all who know Him will be raised to be with Him forever(1 Peter 1:3-6).

HOW DOES HIS HOPE KEEP YOUR HOPE ALIVE?

Hope has, by nature, a longing for more. That’s when a Christian looks toward Heaven. Looking forward to heaven gives eternal hope.

Today, if you are a follower of Jesus, but living under your circumstances, playing the victim, then persevere and reach out to God. He knows your name (Isaiah 43:1). He knows every hair on your head (Luke 12:7, Matthew 10:30). He knew you before you were born (Psalm 139:13-16, Jeremiah 1:5). He loves you (Jeremiah 31:3), and He has a plan for your life ( Psalm 119:105).

That is How Hope beyond this World Gives Hope ~

Look beyond the immediate to the eternal by meditating on Romans 8:22-25 and 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Start praising and thanking God. Remembering His past faithfulness and current blessings takes your mind off troubles and lifts your spirit.

Dr. Charles Stanley – In Touch Ministries devotional – The Reality of Hope

©Valerie Rumfelt